Nutritional Statement:
Canine Health Nutrition MINI Adult 27 Formula for small breed dogs from 10 months to 8 years age is formulated to meet the nutritional levels established by the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) Dog Food Nutrient Profiles for maintenance.

Would you recommend the product? No |
Price you paid?: Not Indicated
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Pros:

First and third ingredients are named meat products

Cons:

Inadequate meat content, low quality grains, controversial filler

The first ingredient in the food is a named meat product but is inclusive of water content (about 80%). Once that is removed, as it must be to create a dehydrated product, the ingredient will weigh around 20% of its wet weight. Ingredients are listed in order of weight, and the dehydrated ingredient would probably be more accurately placed much further down the ingredient list. It is highly unlikely that this ingredient makes any significant contribution to the overall meat content of the food. The true first meat ingredient is a meat meal, 3rd on the ingredient list. This is too low to give us any confidence in the meat content of the food.

The main grain and primary ingredient in the food is brewers rice, which is a low quality grain and byproduct. Further grains are rice, corn and oatmeal. Rice and oatmeal are decent quality grains, but corn is another low quality ingredient. It is a difficult to digest grain that is commonly associated with allergy problems. Corn Gluten Meal is the dried residue from corn after the removal of the larger part of the starch and germ, and the separation of the bran by the process employed in the wet milling manufacture of corn starch or syrup, or by enzymatic treatment of the endosperm. In plain English, that bit of the corn leftover after most of the nutritious bits have been removed.

Beet pulp is controversial filler which appears to be used in large quantities in this food. It is a by-product, being dried residue from sugar beets which has been cleaned and extracted in the process of manufacturing sugar. It is a controversial ingredient in dog food, claimed by some manufacturers to be a good source of fibre, and derided by others as an ingredient added to slow down the transition of rancid animal fats and causing stress to kidney and liver in the process. We note that beet pulp is an ingredient that commonly causes problems for dogs, including allergies and ear infections, and prefer not to see it used in dog food. There are less controversial products around if additional fibre is required.